There’s a new rumor about the Nintendo Switch 2 that may be cause for concern about the platform’s potential power.
As reported by GameRant, this information comes from the people at Digital Foundry. We will note that Digital Foundry is well known and well regarded when it comes to testing performance of video games across different platforms. But they aren’t particularly known for video game leaks, and this is certainly them stretching their wheelhouse, and putting their credibility on the line.
This rumor is hinged on Digital Foundry’s assumption that the most likely chip that Nintendo will be using is the T239. This is a known Nvidia chip that’s already used for self-driving cars.
Richard Leadbetter, who is Eurogamer’s technology editor as well as a contributor at Digital Foundry, claims he has sources that have told him that the T239 that will be in the Switch 2 won’t have DLA. But what’s DLA?
That’s an acronym for deep learning accelerator. To put it simply, DLA is an architecture found in chips like the T239 that enables and speeds up its ability to execute on deep learning tasks. In plain English, DLA is what’s needed for this self-driving car chip to use self-driving AI.
If DLA is not found in the Nintendo Switch’s version of the T239, that means it won’t be efficient at executing AI tasks. So it can still use AI, for the popular task of upscaling video games, but it’s more likely that in most games and apps that it won’t.
Does that hamper the Switch 2 completely? Not exactly. No, such a T239 chip can still use AI, and it will definitely be compatible with DLSS. But Leadbetter is setting expectations that it will be able to upscale games up to 1080p, or 1440p at most.
That’s certainly not the end of the world. Even many gamers today are running their PlayStation 5 consoles on 1080p screens and monitors, underutilizing their console’s technology. But it does raise questions about the console’s potential power.
Having grappled with this rumor in good faith, we do have to point out that Nintendo has not officially confirmed anything about the Switch 2. In fact, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa clearly stated in a press interview just this month that all the rumors out there right now are inaccurate.
Digital Foundry’s rumor also faces up to other rumors with slightly different to completely contradicting accounts. The rumor coming out of Korea is that Nintendo has already switched to the more powerful T254 chip. On the less contradictory end, Tom Henderson, who has covered many scoops proven correct, teased that the Switch 2 would have greater parity with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles than the current Switch.
As Furukawa stated, we have to take all of these rumors with a grain of salt, regardless of how prominent or proven the sources are. There will be exactly one time when we will know for sure what Nintendo’s plans are for the future, and GameRanx will be there to properly inform you when it finally happens.
